Why safety belts
Why safety beltsWhy Safety Belts?
Experts say Princess Diana would have lived had she been wearing a seat belt. The same holds true for countless others who die needlessly in car accidents every day. In the Highway Patrol findings, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for every age from 5-32. In 1997, 70,676 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes and approximately 5 million were injured. To understand the value of a safety belt, it is important to understand some of the dynamics of a crash. Every motor vehicle crash is comprised of three collisions, and also many outside forces can contribute to car accidents.
The Car's Collision
The first part is known as the car's collision, which causes the car to buckle and bend as it hits an object and comes to a stop. This takes approximately one-tenth of a second. The crushing at the front end of the car absorbs some of the force of the crash and cushions the rest of it. As a result, the passenger compartment comes to a more gradual stop than the front of the car does.
The Human Collision
The second one occurs as the vehicle's occupants hit some part of the vehicle. At impact, the unbelted occupants are still travelling at the vehicle's original speed. Just after the vehicle comes to a complete stop, these unbelted occupants will slam into the steering wheel, the windshield, or some other part inside the vehicle. This is a human collision. Another form of human collision is person-to-person impact. Unbelted occupants colliding into each other are the cause of many serious injuries. In a crash, occupants tend to move toward the point of impact and not away from it. People in the front seat are often struck by unbelted passengers who become high-speed projectiles.
The Internal Collision
The internal collision often causes fatal injuries. Even after the occupant's body comes to a complete stop, the internal organs are still moving forward. Suddenly, these organs hit other organs or the skeletal system and could cause significant injuries.
So, Why Safety Belts?
During a crash, properly fastened safety belts distribute the forces of rapid deceleration over larger and stronger parts of the person's body such as the chest, hips and shoulders. The safety belt stretches slightly to slow down your body and increase its stopping distance. The difference between the belted person's stopping distance and the unbelted person's stopping distance is very significant. It is often the difference between life and death.
Excerpts from "Sudden Impact," NHTSA, 1997
Some Facts and Figures
Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death of children over the age of four. Motor vehicle crashes kill more children in the 1-4 age group than any disease. More than 2,000 infants in the US are put in serious risk of injury or death each year by riding on adults' laps.
Lifetime odds are 1-in-3 that you will be seriously injured in a traffic crash and 1-in-100 that you will be killed. More Americans between the ages of 5 and 27 die from motor vehicle injuries than from any other cause. Traffic accidents account for more fatalities each year than homicides, deaths from work related accidents or airplane crashes.
Lap and shoulder safety belt usage can cut fatalities and injuries between 40 and 55 percent, according to numerous studies comparing belted and unbelted victims. Canada's highway death toll dropped 15% in 1996 and 1997, following implementation of a national program that emphasizes the use of safety belts and child safety seats.
The death rate for unbelted crash victims is approximately 3.5 times higher than that of belted victims. Ejection from a vehicle occurs 10 times more often to passenger vehicle occupants who are unprotected and unrestrained. In a frontal collision, safety restraints can cut the chance of injury to the head or face by 60 percent. People aged 18-29 are least likely to wear seat belts, while those in around 30 are the most likely to wear them. From 1985 through 1997, safety belts saved an estimated 105,290 lives of passenger vehicle occupants over the age of four (9,175 in 1997). Awhile 24.8% of the restrained passenger vehicle occupants in involved in fatal crashes suffered no reported injuries, only 6.3% of the unrestrained were not injured. In 1997 if every front seat occupant had buckled up, an additional 9,500 deaths and about 200,000 injuries could have been prevented for an economic savings of nearly $20 billion. Average inpatient care for a driver admitted into an inpatient facility as a result of motor vehicle injury is 55 percent higher if that person was unbelted. Safety belts were used by approximately 17.5% of intoxicated drivers killed in fatal crashes (BAC of .10 or greater), as compared to 29.1% of impaired drivers (BAC between .01 and .09%), and 44.6% of sober drivers
who are killed in crashes.
Air bags are not a substitute for safety belts. Air bags are designed to inflate only during frontal collisions and are useful only as a supplement to safety belts. They offer no protection during multiple crashes, rollovers or side contact.
Currently 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted safety belt laws; Maine and New Hampshire don't have safety belt laws; and all 50 states and D.C. require young children in car safety seats.
The national use rate only reached 15% before the first belt law was passed in 1984. The latest estimate with belt laws in place is 68%. Death and injury from traffic crashes is a public health issue that cuts across social and occupational lines and pose a special public health risk to children.
Drinking and Driving Facts
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. It slows reflexes, impairs coordination and interferes with concentration. The person drinking is often unaware of these impairments until it's too late. That's why it's so important to choose a designated driver for nights out. No matter how difficult or awkward you think it might be, NEVER let intoxicated friends or guests drive. Take their keys, offer to drive them where they need to go, send them home with a friend or in a taxi, or invite them to spend the night. A moment of awkwardness is much better than a lifetime of guilt if something were to happen. o50% of all fatal traffic crashes in 1997 involved someone whom
was drinking alcohol. In 1997, alcohol related crashes killed 37,461 people. That's an
average of one alcohol related fatality every 32 minutes. More than 1.3 million drivers were arrested in 1997 for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. That's an arrest rate of 1 for every 131 licensed drivers in the U.S. An estimated 40 percent of all people can expect to be involved in an alcohol related traffic crash some time during their lives.
Statistics from NHTSA, 1996 and 1997
Some Seat belt Myths Clarified
Myth: Safety belts trap passenger vehicle occupants in their vehicles, especially in cases of fire and submersion. I'd be better off if I'm thrown clear.
Fact: Death by incineration or drowning accounts for less than one-tenth of 1 percent of motor vehicle related trauma. Most passengers who are ejected from cars die and the majority of them are thrown out through the windshield.
Myth: Safety belts can cause injuries.
Fact: It's true that injuries due to safety belts have been reported. But in these infrequent cases, the belt was worn incorrectly or the crash was so severe that the occupant would have been more seriously or fatally injured without a safety belt.
Myth: Safety belts are important only for long trips and high speed expressway driving.
Fact: Three out of every four traffic crashes happen within 25 miles of home and at speeds under 40 miles per hour. Unbelted passenger vehicle occupants have been killed at speeds of less than 12 mph-parking-lot speed.
Myth: You can't wear a safety belt if you're pregnant.
Fact: The leading cause of fetal death in a motor vehicle is the death of the mother. The best protection you can offer your unborn child is to wear a lap and shoulder belt whenever you're on the road. Position the lap belt as low as you can under the abdominal bulge, and let the shoulder strap rest between your breasts. Wearing both belts in the
right position will not increase the chances of damage to the fetus and can keep you both safe.
Other Important Tips
Use fixed headrests. Head restraints have cut by half the frequency of neck injuries. Fixed head restraints are nearly twice as effective as adjustable restraints because adjustable head restraints are often left in the down position, where they can't protect someone of average height. Always use proper child safety seats. Statistics show that children who are not protected by safety restraints face serious risk. Restraining children in child safety seats can save countless lives as well as millions of dollars in treating injuries. During a crash, a child unrestrained by a safety seat is like an rocket out of control. The child can crash into or through the windshield or violently strike other occupants. Even minor mishaps put children at risk. A recent study showed that 25 percent of the children treated in an emergency room were injured, not in crashes, but in swerves, stops, and turns in cars. The safety seat must be secured to the vehicle's seat the way the manufacturer has suggested. Otherwise the safety seat also will become a rocket out of control in a collision. Never hold a child in your lap. A child held on an adult's lap has a much greater risk of being injured or killed than a child who is secured in a safety seat. Experts refer to the "on lap" position as the "child crusher" position. That's because, in a crash, a child is likely to be crushed between the occupant and the dashboard or the windshield. Being a safe driver yourself is no excuse for you or your child to be unprotected. The careless act of another driver could injure or kill your child. You increase that chance if you hold your children or allow them to move about in the car unrestrained. Put your children in the back seat if your car has front and or side
air bags. Air bags can injure or even kill children due to their height and size.
Why safety belts?
Because they only take a moment of your time and will become an automatic reaction before you know it. And because chances are, a safety belt will save your life or the life of a friend or loved one. Is there anything more important than that?
SO, NO MORE EXCUSES...
BUCKLE YOUR SAFETY BELTS!!!!!